Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Member Spotlight | Ann Fontaine

Tell us a little about yourself and the ways
you’re active with Indivisible North Coast Oregon (INCO)

I am
a retired Episcopal priest, but before that I taught fourth grade in a public
school. I then did what many women with another wage earner in the household do, I volunteered.
Once I was ordained, about 20 years ago, I served in churches all over western
Wyoming--from the Indian Reservation to Jackson Hole.

We lived
in Wyoming for over 35 years. While there, a friend and I started a local food
bank after the iron mine closed, leaving some 600 people out of work. Our town’s
population went from over 10,000 to around 5,000 people! We also held rallies
on various social issues like abortion, gay rights and racism.

What prompted you to get involved?

Until
the 2016 presidential election, I think I was pretty complacent that this
country was headed in a good direction. I really couldn’t believe the US was
that hard hearted. In January, some friends and I went to the Women's March in
Astoria where we heard about INCO. It seemed like a good mix of
national and local action, so I joined. I currently handle assorted communications for
Indivisible’s North Coast Oregon chapter.

What’s a highlight of your involvement so
far?

A highlight
of my INCO involvement to-date was getting an "Inclusive Cities" resolution
passed by the Cannon Beach City Council. A friend and I did some research for itwhich
we showed to the local police chief. He liked what we’d done and presented
it to the City Council. It was a slam dunk after that. Since then we have
been working with the Cannon Beach police and families who ask for help to
build good relations between local law enforcement and local Hispanics.

What’s your vision for a better future?

A promising
future would include good public education for all, healthcare, wage equity,
women in charge of their own health choices, and working to dismantle racism,
sexism and heterosexism. (I don't want much)

What’s one book, quote, or action that you
recommend to everyone who’ll listen?

A book I recommend is “Jesus
and the Disinherited,” by Howard Thurman. Martin Luther King, Jr..carried this
book with him at all times.

A quote I particularly like is by Rilke, the poet. “Be patient toward all that is
unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked
rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now
seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to
live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.
Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant
day into the answer.” In short, live the questions.

ELECTIONS MATTER

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Email incoregon (at) gmail.com

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STAY ACTIVE! RESIST!

Many of you are already involved in civic-minded organizations that embrace the call to activism. We applaud these efforts. In the days ahead, much will be required of us. Now more than ever, we need to support the good work of all.

One choice among many for marching ahead is Indivisible North Coast Oregon. A young movement with over 5,000 groups nationwide, Indivisible promotes grassroots activism to resist an agenda built on racism, authoritarianism, and corruption.

If you’re interested in marching ahead with Indivisible, sign up here.